Key Terms/References

Anxiety: an unpleasant feeling of fear or apprehension accompanied by increased level of psychological arousal (eg heart rate, breathing).

Anxiety disorder: a disorder characterised by extreme sense of fear and worry with intense psychological sensations in situations where there is no real danger or threat. The sensations and intense fear are such that the individual is unable to function effectively in the feared situation.

Agoraphobia: fear about being in places or situations from which escape might be difficult (or embarrassing) or in which help may not be available if a panic attack occurs. Fears can include situations such as being outside the home alone; being in a crowd or standing in a line; being on a bridge; and travelling in a bus, train, or car.

Anorexia nervosa: a serious eating disorder whose core feature is self-induced weight loss by starvation, exercise and purging. Individuals experience a distorted body image and an intense fear of becoming fat even when severely underweight.

Assessment: the systematic and ongoing evaluation of information about a consumer to determine his or her diagnosis, needs and the desired outcome of care.

Bipolar disorder: the more recent name for the mood disorder manic depressive illness. It is characterised by the presence of history of manic (or hypomanic) episodes usually alternated with depressive episodes although some individuals do not experience the depressed mood.

Bulimia nervosa: an eating disorder characterised by eating binges during which the person feels a loss of control and self disgust. To compensate for the binges and to avoid weight gain, individuals use self-induced vomiting and/or the abuse of laxatives and fluid tablets.

Carer: a person whose life is affected by a close relationship with a consumer, or who has chosen and contracted a caring role.

Chronic: of long duration or recurring frequently, often with progressive seriousness.

Consumer/client: a person who has experienced mental illness and has received services or has been significantly affected by a mental health service.

Depressed mood: feelings of sadness and unhappiness that most of us experience at times throughout our lives.

Depressive disorder: clinical term for a number of mood disorders characterised by deep and ongoing sadness and loss of pleasure; a collection of disturbances in emotional, behavioural and cognitive functioning that is defined by standard psychiatric diagnostic criteria.

Diagnosis: a decision based on the recognition of clinically relevant symptomatology, the consideration of causes that may exclude a diagnosis of another condition, and the application of clinical judgement.

Discharge: refers to the time when a person who has attempted suicide leaves the hospital or mental health facility. Research shows that there is increased risk of suicide up to four weeks after discharge from a mental health facility.

Hallucinations: most common form is hearing imaginary voices. Less common is seeing, tasting or smelling imaginary things that are very real to the person.

Hypomania: an episode of illness that resembles mania but is less intense and less disabling. The state is characterised by an euphoric mood, an unrealistic optimism, increased speech and activity, and a decreased need for sleep. For some, there is increased creativity, while others experience reduced judgement and functioning.

Incidence: The number of cases identified in a given period, usually a year, ie the number of people who die by suicide. Incident rate is usually expressed per 100 000 population.

Maintenance treatment: treatment designed to prevent a recurrence of illness or maintain maximum health.

Mania/manic episode: an episode of illness characterised by extreme mood swing where a person feels extremely high, energetic, and agitated, has less need for sleep and experiences rapid speech and thought. Some people also experience hallucinations and delusions.

Mental disorder: a diagnosable illness that significantly interferes with an individual's cognitive, emotional or social abilities. Often used interchangeably with the term mental illness.

Mental health: holistic sense of well being and the capacity of people within groups and an environment to interact in a way that promotes subjective well-being and optimal development to achieve individual and collective goals.

Mental health literacy: 'The ability to recognise specific disorders; knowing how to seek mental health information; knowledge of risk factors and causes, of self-treatments and of professional help available, and attitudes that promote recognition and appropriate helpseeking.' (Jorm et al 1997, 182)

Mental health problem: reduced emotional, social, cognitive ability or well-being but not to the extent that the criteria for a mental disorder are met; disruption in the interactions between the individual, the group and the environment producing a reduced state of mental health.

Mental health professional: professionally trained person working specifically in mental health such as a social worker, psychologist, psychiatrist, psychiatric nurse and occupational therapist.

Mental health promotion: activity to maximise mental health and well-being among populations and individuals.

Mental health service: public or private service in which the primary role is to provide treatment, rehabilitation or community support for people affected by mental disorder or psychiatric disability.

Mental illness/disorder: a recognised, medically diagnosable illness which results in a significant impairment of an individual's thinking and emotional abilities and may require intervention.

National Mental Health Strategy: comprises the National Mental Health Policy and Plan adopted by Commonwealth, State and Territory Health Ministers in 1992 and the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities. The strategy commits all governments to improve the lives of people with a mental illness.

National Suicide Prevention Strategy: a $48 million whole-of-government and wholeof- community approach to suicide prevention, building on the National Youth Suicide Prevention Strategy. The NSPS supports national suicide prevention activities across the lifespan, with a continuing focus on young people. Activities include education and training within communities, building networks between primary care providers such as general practitioners and community organisations, and initiatives that aim to address risk and protective factors for suicide, including media activities and community development.

National Youth Suicide Prevention Strategy: a $31 million coordinated approach to youth suicide prevention (which ended in June 1999) that involved all Australian governments, health professionals, carers, researchers and others. Funding was provided for rural youth counselling, enhanced telephone counselling, programs for parents, the education and training of professionals and for research activities.

Obsessive/compulsive disorder: mental health disorder characterised by constant unwanted thoughts; often results in the performance of elaborate rituals in an attempt to control or banish the persistent thoughts. For example, the person may continually return home to check that the oven is turned off.

Panic attacks: episodes of overwhelming physical symptoms of anxiety and a fear of death or total loss of control; extreme panic attacks can occur in situations that would not scare most people.

Phobia: intense fear of specific objects/ situations where there is no real danger. Phobias interfere significantly with the individual's ability to function effectively in the feared situation.

Postnatal depression: a serious depressive disorder that affects about one in eight women after the birth of a baby and involves mood changes, appetite and sleep disturbance, feelings of inadequacy, anxiety and guilt, and loss of concentration and memory.

Prevalence: the proportion of the population with the disease/disorder.

Protective factors: refers to a range of factors that appear to have the capacity to protect individuals who might otherwise be at risk of suicide.

Psychiatric disability: loss or deficit in a person's day-to-day functioning which is the result of having or having had a mental disorder. The level of psychiatric disability may be minimal or nonexistent if the disorder is well managed or if the individual has fully recovered.

Psychiatrist: medical practitioner with specialist training in psychiatry.

Psychologist: allied health professional with specialist training in psychology.

Psychosis/psychotic episode: a period of mental illness when the person loses contact with reality. The ability to make sense of thoughts, feelings and external information is seriously affected.

Post-traumatic stress disorder: many people who have experienced major trauma such as war, torture, motor accidents, fires or violence continue to feel terror long after the event. They may experience nightmares or flashbacks for years.

Risk factors: 'Those characteristics, variables, or hazards that, if present for a given individual, make it more likely that this individual, rather than someone selected at random from the general population, will develop a disorder.' (Mrazek and Haggerty 1994, 127)

Schizophrenia: a mental illness that affects one in 100. It interferes with a person's mental functioning and, over the long term, may cause personality changes. The first onset is usually in adolescence or early adulthood.

Self-harm: this includes the various methods by which individuals harm themselves, such as selflaceration, self-battering, taking overdoses, or deliberate recklessness. Recent research suggests that self-harm is more common than attempted suicide and is a serious youth health problem.

Social phobia/social anxiety: fear that others will judge everything you do or say in a negative way. People may believe they are permanently flawed and worthless if any sign of poor performance is detected.

Stigma: a mark of shame or disapproval, of being shunned. It emerges when people feel uneasy or too embarrassed to talk about behaviour they perceive as different. Some degree of stigma is associated with all mental illness but is particularly strong when the illness results in unusual behaviour. Stigma can create a wall of silence that is damaging to the person, the community, his or her family and friends.

Suicidal behaviours: a broad term that describes the many types of non-accidental selfharm including suicide attempt.

Suicide: a conscious and deliberate act to end one's life. By conscious act, it is meant that the act was done to end the person's life.

Suicide ideation: a pattern of thoughts about suicide.

Support: support may refer to ongoing care by professionals as part of a therapeutic process or it may refer to support provided by anyone in the community.

Substance use disorders: disorders in which drugs are used to an extent that behaviour becomes maladaptive; social and occupational functioning is impaired, and control or abstinence becomes impossible. Reliance on the drug may be psychological, as in substance misuse, or psychological, as in substance dependence.

Symptom: an observable physiological or psychological manifestation of a disorder or disease, often occurring in a group to constitute a syndrome.

Treatment: an intervention (either medication or therapy) by a recognised health professional such as a psychiatrist, general practitioner or other doctor, nurse, psychologist, occupational therapist, social worker or other professional mental health worker.